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David Moyes had emphasized before Fulham's visit that the onus for scoring goals should not fall solely on the team's forwards. “I want more goals from my defenders and central players as well,” he insisted. Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane responded perfectly, earning a merited victory over Marco Silva’s toothless side.

Everton’s second victory in nine matches was largely untroubled as Fulham showed why their leading scorer this season is opposition own goals. Aside from a brief flurry in the latter period, the visitors were subdued all match by Everton’s greater urgency and technical ability. The Blues had three goals ruled out for infringements, but a close-range strike from the midfielder in added time before the break and the defender's second-half header ensured there would be no reprieve for the former Everton manager.

No one needed a goal as much as the young striker, the Goodison Park attacker who had gone 10 Premier League outings without a shot on target after his big-money move from Villarreal and missed a clear opportunity to put his team 2-0 up at Sunderland earlier in the week. The youngster headed the earliest chance of the game over the Fulham keeper's goal frame when picked out by his teammate's excellent delivery.

Everton controlled the opening stages and the Fulham goalkeeper pushed over the midfielder's 30-yard free-kick, awarded after Sasa Lukic was booked for fouling the Everton midfielder. The Serbian brought down the identical opponent later in the half but the official, the man in charge, rightly ignored Everton appeals for a sending off. Silva was not risking anything, though, and withdrew the player at the break.

The striker thought his fortune had finally turned when arriving at the far post to turn in a low cross by Gueye. But the elation of a first Everton goal was erased by an assistant referee’s flag. The attacker was in an illegal position when going for the delivery, and missing, and the VAR backed up the original call. Barry’s misfortune may have persisted in the final third, but his all-round performance justified Moyes’ decision to stick with him. His runs and work-rate occupied the opposition's back line and helped give Everton the edge all game.

Fulham grew into the game slowly with the Norwegian and the ex-Goodison player Alex Iwobi combining effectively in the engine room, but the early danger from the visitors was limited. The Mexican striker fired weakly at the England keeper when set up in the box by Iwobi and sent a free-kick from a promising location straight into the Everton wall. And that was it.

Everton, driven on by Dewsbury-Hall and the forward, had a second goal disallowed for offside when the Fulham goalkeeper saved a Keane header and James Tarkowski volleyed in the rebound. The home captain had just strayed beyond the last defender when nodding down Jack Grealish’s cross in the buildup. But Everton’s next effort beating Leno counted. Vitalii Mykolenko delivered a perfect ball to the back post when found in space on the left flank by the youngster. The defender connected with a powerful nod off the crossbar and, though the midfielder mishit the rebound, his midfield partner Gueye finished from point-blank. The sense of release inside the ground was evident.

The home side had a further effort ruled out early in the second half after Dewsbury-Hall found the bottom corner from a further excellent Mykolenko cross. The attacker had cushioned the ball into Barry, who was offside when competing with Joachim Anderson for the touch that reached the Everton midfielder. The team would have to be patient until the 81st minute for the security of a second goal. Dewsbury-Hall was the architect with a corner that the defender glanced past Leno. He scored with the upper body, and Fulham’s appeals for handball were rejected by the video official.

Fulham posed more danger following the introductions of Josh King, the Brazilian and Adama Traoré. Pickford saved well with his legs to deny Muniz scoring with his initial involvement and stopped the speedster with another important stop late on.